Republicans have done everything they can to win the Jewish vote, never missing an opportunity to link Democrats and any foreign policy opponent to the Nazis and the Holocaust. They just don't get how offensive such remarks are to Jewish voters, continuing to drive them toward Democrats.

With religious liberty under siege around the world, people of goodwill should stand for the rights of believers everywhere. Unpopular minority faiths are like the proverbial canary in the mine: When they die, further violations of human life and dignity inevitably are coming.

To imply that Bernie Sanders' style of Democratic Socialism even stands on the same side of the political spectrum as the National Socialism of the Nazi Party shows not only a total misunderstanding of history and political theory, but more importantly, it underscores yet again the dog whistle politics of neo-conservatism.

Last night, I gave a lecture at the Rego Park Jewish Center in Queens, New York. The topic was "What makes people single out Jews, and what can counter anti-Semitism's sharp rise." Admittedly, I was not very hopeful.

Does a "sleep-in" have the power to make a difference in the Middle East? One group of Israelis think so. This week, Israeli peace activists began a sleep-in protest in the Palestinian village of Khirbet Susiya to prevent the Israeli army from demolishing it, as reported by The Independent.

These are not great times for Jewish-Muslim relations. In many ways, these are not great times for religion as such. There is so much bad religion around that we sometimes wish it didn't exist. It need not be so. It was not always so. Moments like holy times, such as the month of Ramadan and the concluding Eid el Fitr, are moments when we can imagine alternatives.

Originally I was supposed to testify in the trial of Oskar Groening after a whole list of people, but somehow they called on me to be first. That court was pretty disorganized so I decided that as soon as I got the opportunity to speak, I would do it.

I met Michael Oren on several occasions. He is both an excellent diplomat and a respected historian. It is impossible for me to ignore the facts stated in Oren's memoir. The book has caused a paradigm shift in how I view the Obama administration and a nuclear deal with Iran.

Tradition does not demand vocally opposing the Supreme Court's decision because it in no way impacts Orthodox religious marriage. Cloaking such bias in religious garb does not make it any less problematic.

Tatiana De Rosnay's Sarah's Key spent two years on the New York Times Bestseller List, and even longer than that on my nightstand before I finally read it. I regret not reading it sooner, as it would've drastically transformed my family's trip to Paris the previous summer.

About Judaism

Stretching 4,000 years back to its patriarch Abraham, Judaism is one of the oldest monotheistic religions in the world. A Jew is anyone who is born of a Jewish mother or who has converted in accordance with Jewish law. The foundation of Jewish law (halakha) and tradition is the Torah (also known as the Pentateuch or the Five Book of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). Additional authoritative texts include the Talmud and the Midrash.
Observant Jews recite prayers three times daily, with a fourth prayer added on the Sabbath and holidays. The Shema Yisrael ("Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord is one") is a centerpiece of Jewish prayer services and encapsulates the monotheistic essence of Judaism. The Sabbath commemorates God’s day of rest after six days of creation. Widely observed Jewish holidays are Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Purim, Shavuot and Hanukkah. In 2010, the world Jewish population was estimated at 13.4 million, or roughly 0.2 percent of the total world population.